Clemtgrs - 25 October 2017 03:03 AM
Its against the rules to hit an official in MMA too, but if you are going to get in between two guys going at it you need to be prepared to get hit. It happens. Emotions and adrenaline running at max and someone jumps in a grabs you….whats your first instinct?
Dude barely got pushed.
That’s a different situation. In MMA, a ref is getting between the fighters involved in action that’s a part of the sport. They may get hit by a strike intended for one of the fighters. That’s more like a football ref being run over during a play, which does happen and doesn’t draw a penalty.
This was a case of a ref trying to stop something that was between plays and against the rules (fighting) and being receiving a push targeted to him. If a fighter were to turn on a ref between rounds, they would probably get a different response.
As for the emotions, I understand why it happens, but the fact that it can be understood doesn’t make it a part of the game or not a penalty. I also understand why in an emotional game, when you’re about to take the lead and the home crowd has it so loud you can’t hear, that an OL jumps offsides. It’s still a penalty even if he didn’t flatten a defensive lineman. Also, the emotions and adrenaline were running because he was in the middle of committing another penalty.
What about the ref? How much is he supposed to take? He’s supposed to be pushed by a bigger stronger guy and just accept it because he should understand and expect it because the guy was upset? It’s an emotional game, how often should he be allowed to be pushed or is the limit when he gets hurt? Lynch’s reaction was to push, and the ref reacted by throwing a flag. That seems like a natural reaction to a ref. He has to be in control of the game and the authority so they are pretty strict on keeping hands off the ref. I don’t know of any sport that treats it differently.
He did barely get pushed, but he did get pushed. If the situation with Lynch was understandable and expected, I would think more guys than just him would’ve done it or that we would see it more often, but we don’t because it’s a widely accepted standard.
